Destiny of Honor
by Chaotic Manifest
Summary: Sequel to Legacy of Deceit... What if Legacy of Deceit had ended differently? In a bright new future forged by the choices of the Storm Hawks, Aerrow faces a new choice as to how he wants to best serve Atmosia...
1. Prologue: Fate Rewritten

**Legacy of Deceit**

The Storm Hawks world concept is copyright to Nerd Corps and Asaph Fipke.

Aerrow, Stork, Piper, Starling, Junko, Finn, Radarr and other Sky Knights are the intellectual property of Asaph Fipke and copyright to Nerd Corps.

Master Cyclonis, Dark Ace, Ravess, Snipe and the Talons are the intellectual property of Asaph Fipke and copyright to Nerd Corps.

Repton and the Raptors are the intellectual property of Asaph Fipke and copyright to Nerd Corps.

Ageless Specter, Lord Xivor and The Ancients are the intellectual property of AgelessSpecter and used with permission.

Marrshal, Psychos and Lord Astrel are my intellectual property; please credit them as such if for some reason you use them.

…

"Piper, find that bomb! The rest of you start evacuating everyone on Terra Rex, I'm going after Marrshal!" Aerrow yelled as he made a snap decision.

"Right!" the other Storm Hawks responded as they flew back to Terra Rex to complete their assigned missions. Without pause, Aerrow took off after Marrshal, determined to stop him and retrieve the crystal.

* * *

Piper raced through the streets of Terra Rex on her skimmer, tracking down the emanations of the leecher crystal using the latest version of her crystal radar while panicked people rapidly ran to the airfields from their homes, desperate to escape before the terra was destroyed. Thankfully, many people had already left due to the battle so the task was not impossible, provided everyone hurried. By the look of her radar, the leecher crystal was hidden somewhere near the center of the terra, which made sense, all things considered. Finally arriving at the location, Piper looked around; finding herself in the middle of a town plaza, no sign of the bomb in sight even though she technically should be standing right next to the device. It did not take much thought to know that the device was buried; the only question was where and how deep. Given the amount of time Marrshal had spent on this scheme, Piper guessed that she would never be able to reach it in time… And even if she could, how could she defuse it in time? There was no way to stop it, Terra Rex was doomed.

* * *

Aerrow sped through the skies, relentlessly pursuing Marrshal no matter how hard he tried to escape his adversary. For his part, Marrshal was becoming quite fed up with this chase; it did not fit into his plan. There was a solution though, an easy guaranteed way to get Aerrow off his tail even if it meant giving up the Crystal of Infinite Skies… but as long as Aerrow pursued him he could not complete his plan anyways.

"You want this so badly?" Marrshal shouted back to Aerrow as he held up the crystal. Although Aerrow gave no vocal answer, the flurry of energy blasts was all the answer Marrshal could have hoped for. "Fine, go and get it from the Wastelands!" he yelled as he threw the small jewel straight down.

Aerrow immediately dove to grab the crystal, Marrshal might escape for now, but this crystal was vital to restoring the peace and presenting a unified front against Cyclonia and so it had to be the higher priority. As he dove toward the area where the gem had fallen, something like a gentle nudge in the back of his mind alerted him that something was wrong and Aerrow immediately pulled up as he tried to figure out what was wrong. Almost by instinct he could see what the problem was: the crystal Marrshal had thrown was a fake. The spymaster must still have the real crystal then Aerrow thought as he accelerated to continue his pursuit of the Merb traitor. Luckily, he could still see Marrshal up ahead, if he had continued his pursuit of the fake crystal even a second longer though the spymaster would have been out of visual range and impossible to track. Marrshal's ride was fast, but he had a way to even the score Aerrow said to himself mentally, his thoughts racing as to how he could retrieve the real crystal from the spymaster. While he planned, he pulled out a velocity crystal he had luckily thought to bring with him and dropped it into his crystal converter. With a sudden burst of acceleration, Aerrow quickly caught up to the spy and threw several bolts of energy at Marrshal, hoping to slow the man down by forcing him to perform evasive maneuvers to avoid being shot. The tactic worked and Aerrow gained even more sky on the spy, eventually closing to within a dozen yards of the skimmer he was pursuing.

"You are persistent, why do you continue this pointless pursuit? The Crystal of Infinite Skies will be lost to the Wastelands if you do." Marrshal said as he glanced back at Aerrow over his shoulder.

"I don't think so Marrshal." Aerrow said with grim certainty, "You have the real crystal don't you?" To Aerrow's surprise, the spy suddenly stopped dead in the air and Marrshal stood to face his pursuer. The man had not drawn his weapons, although Aerrow had little doubt that he could do so in an instant and he kept his own weapons trained on the Merb. Marrshal then further surprised the young Sky Knight by slowly pulling back his hood, almost as if it were a kind of ceremony. The face beneath was so similar to Stork's and yet they were worlds apart; this Merb regarded Aerrow calmly without any trace of fear or paranoia as would be expected.

"What makes you so certain Aerrow?" Marrshal said as he stood there simply, allowing the wind to whip his cloak about him. "You are taking an awful risk to confront me rather than retrieve the crystal."

"Can it, I may not know exactly how I knew the other crystal was a fake, but I'm certain of it now." Aerrow said as he pointed a blade directly at Marrshal's head, "Give me the real Crystal of Infinite Skies or this will get ugly."

Unexpectedly, a wide grin spread across Marrshal's face and he pulled out a small cloth bag that seemed to glow with a faint light. "Very well then, if you can see through such a thorough deception, I will give you the real Crystal." Marrshal said as he tossed the bag over to Aerrow. "I will even stay right here while you check to make sure I am being honest."

"Oh… okay…" Aerrow said as he caught the bag and opened it to reveal a brilliantly shining crystal. Aerrow carefully inspected the crystal, but this felt right, it felt like this was the real crystal he sought. It was a sharp contrast to how odd this entire situation felt to his other senses. After taking a minute to make sure that his feeling was certain, Aerrow looked back up, surprised to see that the spy was still there. He had not expected the man to actually hold true to his word. "It seems that you're telling the truth Marrshal… Now the question: why?"

"My reasons are my own Aerrow; I think you would have learned that by now. No matter what else I have told you, my true motives shall now remain forever shrouded in secrecy to you. Simply enjoy your good fortune and hurry back to Terra Rex, I would not want you to miss the show…" Marrshal said in an ominous tone before he vanished, having used a cloaking crystal to disappear into the quiet skies.

As Aerrow looked around to get his bearings, he contemplated how he would get back in time to make a difference. He desperately wanted to help Piper and the other Storm Hawks, but he had traveled too far, by the time he managed to travel back to Terra Rex he would be too late to help. Suddenly he noticed a warm feeling in the hand holding the pouch Marrshal had given him. He pulled the crystal to out find that he could see a tiny view of Terra Rex inside the jewel, as if the crystal was somehow responding to his thoughts. As he stared, transfixed by the image in the crystal, it seemed to pull him in and surround him. With a sudden lurching motion Aerrow found himself flying through open skies with Terra Rex visible only a short distance away, maybe two minutes flight time at most.

"Of course, the Crystal of Infinite Skies…" Aerrow said as he accelerated toward the terra where the battle still raged.

* * *

By the time he arrived back at the terra, the battle was slowing down quickly, the combatants distracted by the mass evacuation of inhabitants, although they had not yet learned the learned the reason for that evacuation. Rex Guardian and Ancient were racing among the people fleeing Terra Rex, trying to find out exactly what was going on. A difficult prospect considering the pandemonium that reigned in the skies over the landmass. He hoped that Piper was safe no matter what she was doing; hopefully disarming the bomb that Marrshal had planted.

"Aerrow!" Piper suddenly yelled from off to his left.

"Piper! What is going on?"

"The device was buried; I can't get to it in time." Piper explained. "There's no way to stop it now, I just left a minute ago... Terra Rex will probably be gone in another five to ten minutes." The crestfallen expression on her face told Aerrow that she had already considered a million scenarios, searching for a means to stop the coming cataclysm, but had rejected each in turn as impractical given the time remaining until the end. Surely there had to be something he could do, but with only five minutes remaining, what could he do?

"Aerrow!" Vespos suddenly called out as the Ancient leader raced toward them from the terra. Behind him, the battle had fallen apart completely as the magnitude of the crisis began to set in. "You have the Crystal of Infinite Skies?"

"Yes!" Aerrow yelled as he held up to brilliant crystal.

"Give it to me quickly then follow me, I need you to tell me where the bomb is!" Vespos responded; catching the crystal as the red haired Storm Hawk threw it to him. Without pause, Vespos wheeled around and streaked off toward Terra Rex, the whine of his skimmer indicative that he was pushing the vehicle to its limits. In less than a minute the three stood where Piper has located the device, both Piper and Aerrow wondering what Vespos planned on doing.

"Back up about fifty feet or so, only I am safe within the zone of this move." Vespos said solemnly as he removed his usual weapon crystal and locked the Crystal of Infinite Skies into his weapon. "I have only done this once before…"

Taking their cue from his statement, Aerrow and Piper backed off, retreating to a safe distance as the Ancient raised his blade above his head. After a pause to focus his entire attention on the task ahead, Vespos stabbed downward in a quick motion, driving his sword up to the hilt in the soil and rock of Terra Rex. With his sword firmly in place, Vespos knelt down beside his sword while continuing to hold the handle of the blade with one hand. A moment later and an aura of energy surrounded Vespos, the precursor to a Sky Knight Move, although Aerrow could not think of any Move that could help them now. Suddenly however, white light blazed around Vespos's blade and pulsed into the ground as a large mass of soil and stone vanished, leaving a perfectly spherical crater fifty feet deep and one hundred feet in diameter. As Vespos braced himself to prevent himself from collapsing, Piper quickly pulled out her crystal scanner and began sweeping the site. While Aerrow went to help the exhausted Ancient stand, Piper picked up a large fragment of leecher crystal that the attack had missed, quickly throwing it up and out of the crater to prevent it from absorbing any more crystal energy and exploding near them. It might still explode, but at least this way they were safe if that happened.

"Is… Terra Rex… safe?" Vespos asked in a weary tone as he slowly walked over to where Piper stood with assistance from Aerrow.

"Yes, you did it." Piper proclaimed triumphantly as she rechecked her scanner.

"Good… contact Harrier… it is time… to clear the air…"

* * *

Later, after Vespos had rested and all the involved parties had eaten at a banquet celebrating the end of the civil war, Harrier and Vespos really started the negotiations. Thanks to the Storm Hawks, both sides now knew the details of everything that had happened and how Marrshal had manipulated them. Vespos had been silent throughout, probably embarrassed that he had let his emotions get the better of him and had continued the fight even after they knew it was a Cyclonian plot. Aerrow could somewhat relate, his own determination had led him into traps before… The incident with the Great Atmos Race being one of the prime examples of him doing something he knew was a bad idea.

"Clearly mistakes were made… we Ancients clung too closely to the memories of, what to you, is the ancient past. Even to us it happened several years ago, we should not have indulged our pain so." Vespos said in a regretful tone. "Even though we knew that the entire war was a Cyclonian plot we still tried to avenge our fallen comrades, we were too quick to assume that Harrier would betray us for power. In doing so we almost committed as great an atrocity as Osprey did to us."

"No, you didn't." Harrier said suddenly, "What my ancestor did is unforgivable; he took something he must have known was vital to safeguarding the Atmos and used it to establish a legacy in order to bring greater glory to himself. Nothing you have done can compete with that treachery. Also, unlike Osprey you came back to save us, something he never did for you as he left you to fight alone."

"Nonetheless, it is time to bury the past, you are not Osprey. We cannot forget what he did, but we can work toward building a new relationship with the modern Sky Knights." Vespos proclaimed. "And with the Crystal of Infinite Skies, we will finally have the time to rejoin Atmos, our oaths as Archoni'ent are fulfilled, the Atmos is finally free of the Stormweaver Order."

"That's great news!" Aerrow said excitedly.

"Especially for you Aerrow, and not just because we are your friends and can help bring about the end of Cyclonia that much quicker." Vespos intoned cryptically.

"What do you mean?"

"Aerrow, you used the Crystal of Infinite Skies, not many Sky Knights are able to do that, as Harrier and his family can probably attest to. There is only one lineage of Sky Knights who are able to do so, the Archoni'ent."

"You mean… I'm an Ancient?" Aerrow asked slowly, awed by the prospect.

"Of a sort… All Sky Knights have the potential to become Archoni'ent, but very few know how to tap that potential. It may be that the time you spent with all those psionic and link crystals in you unlocked that potential, regardless, you have the potential to fight as we do, if you are willing to train as one of us. You cannot be a full-fledged Ancient since you are not from Terra Anki, but you can reestablish the Order of the Archoni'ent if you so wish. You serve a proud order though, worthy of succeeding us despite its origins thanks to the members that now make up the Sky Knights; we cannot ask you to abandon it for our legacy, feel no obligation either way…"

"I will think about it." Aerrow said, already contemplating with excitement the prospect of being able to chain different Sky Knight Moves together in combat. Would that training mean abandoning his duties as a Sky Knight though? Probably not, but he wanted to know more, particularly if being an Archoni'ent meant that he would be expected to sleep for a thousand years. He would be of no help against Cyclonia if he had to do that. "Perhaps if you could tell me more about your order that would help."

"We will gather as much of our history as we can, it may take a several weeks, but we will get it to you so you can make a decision."

* * *

Marrshal flew toward Cyclonia, having taken a detour to dispose of the Dying Light crystals in the Great Expanse first. No one would ever find those crystals again and he had no need of them now that Aerrow had discovered his potential. The Ageless Specter's plan was complete; his world would be safe from the wrath of the Illuminati now that the majority of the Stormweavers were sealed forever. The Crystal of Infinite Skies was both a key and a gate that allowed one to traverse the many dimensions and universes of reality as well as allowed one to lock others in those dimensions or pull them out. With the crystal back in their possession, the Ancients could lock the Stormweavers in their dream dimension, preventing them from ever manifesting physically in this world again and preventing any further corruption to the Atmos. The Stormweavers would be taken by the Illuminati to another universe, their role in these events having been completed and all rogue sources of chaos would disappear. Even now the substance that had consumed Master Cyclonis was receding; her role was no longer needed.

* * *

"Well, that was a pleasant ending to events." The Ageless Specter mused as he leaned back in his throne. "Have Marrshal continue to monitor events and inform us if anything happens to disrupt the balance of their universe."

"Of course sir." Psychos said as he dispatched a message to Marrshal. "The Stormweavers have been secured and their chaos powers reintegrated, they will no longer serve as rogue agents of chaos; the Oracle has also been secured and awaits transport to her trial before The Four if we have no other use for her. Kind of a boring end to our plan even if it still achieves our aims, we did not even get to reveal ourselves."

"True… in this other universe though, it would seem that Aerrow was unable to reclaim his legacy. A pity really, events would have been far easier to bear if the Oracle had not tampered with the weave of fate. Well, we prepared for this outcome, so I think we can release the Oracle from her temporal slumber and let her act as our harbinger." The Ageless Specter said casually as he watched the events on each Atmos unfold.

"That outcome is more fun though." Psychos said with a smirk as he gave orders to the appropriate subordinates.

"Too true…"

_

* * *

_

You who read the dire destinies of the Dark Oracle now turn to me looking for solace for the Dark Oracle predicts the end of your known world by Darkness. There are many outcomes and the Dark Oracle has only enlightened you as to the ones that require his personal involvement.

_There is yet hope; the compass of fate may point back into the venerated halls of the past, guided by the arrow as it points true once more._

_Revel in the new dawn, declared by the Darkness to be complete._

_The world can celebrate in the new wonders that can be found as the arrow finds the path that it shall fly. Honored Guardians, rest at ease for the Darkness no longer seeks to overcome your skies; you have proven yourselves for the arrow struck true._

-First Canto of the First Prediction of the Light Oracle


	2. Heir to the Legacy

**Destiny of Honor**

**Destiny of Honor: Heir to the Legacy**

The Storm Hawks world concept is copyright to Nerd Corps and Asaph Fipke.

Aerrow, Stork, Piper, Starling, Junko, Finn, Radarr and other Sky Knights are the intellectual property of Asaph Fipke and copyright to Nerd Corps.

Master Cyclonis, Dark Ace, Ravess, Snipe and the Talons are the intellectual property of Asaph Fipke and copyright to Nerd Corps.

Repton and the Raptors are the intellectual property of Asaph Fipke and copyright to Nerd Corps.

Ageless Specter, Lord Xivor and The Ancients are the intellectual property of AgelessSpecter and used with permission.

Genisis/ Light Oracle, Marrshal, Psychos and Lord Astrel are my intellectual property; please credit them as such if for some reason you use them.

**Chapter 1**

Five months later…

Piper walked into Aerrow's room, hoping to talk with the red haired Sky Knight about going on a date to Tropica since they were in the area and goodness knew another vacation to work off the stress of the past three years or so would be nice. What greeted her though was a miniature avalanche of books, papers and scrolls; evidently the collected history of the Ancients. For nearly three months now the Sky Knight had been reading the information the Archoni'ent had sent him during the free time he had in-between missions, trying to reach a decision on whether or not to go to Terra Anki for training. It was a more difficult decision than anyone had anticipated; if the discussions Aerrow and she had on the subject were any indication. The Archoni'ent had their own oaths which differed from the Sky Knight Oath, namely with respect to their dedication to preserving what they called the Balance of the World. It was a concept that had been taught to the founders of the Archoni'ent by the Light Oracle and Dark Oracle when they originally broke from the archaic orders of crystalmancers millennia ago. Evidently all other concerns were secondary to maintaining the balance and that was where Aerrow had issues: what if preserving this balance required him to fight Atmosia as he had been forced to do as Night Aerrow? He had been searching for some answer among the texts; after all, the Ancients had defended Atmosia except when some other event had called them away for over a year and Aerrow did not want that to happen with him. Atmosia could easily fall in a year as had been shown before during his time as Night Aerrow. By the same token, the thought of being able to decisively defeat the Dark Ace and ensure that no more Sky Knights would fall to him was a powerful motivator. Before gaining that power though, Aerrow wanted to make sure that he was doing it for the right reason and not because he wanted to defeat the Dark Ace. It was a fine line for any Sky Knight to walk, the line between personal ambition and a desire to defend, but in Aerrow it was a particularly touchy subject due to his experiences as Night Aerrow. Aerrow had never been one to let his own personal doubts stop him though and had resolved that he would only do what was best for Atmosia and learning the secrets of the Ancients would give him the skills necessary to defeat the Dark Ace decisively.

Piper sighed internally, in contemplating Aerrow's choices she had fallen into his cycle of reasoning which often turned out to be circular and branch off on random tangents as complications suddenly occurred to him. It was not a bad thing, besides; complicated moral debates often followed similar patterns. Currently Aerrow seemed to be lost in his research and Piper considered leaving him be until Aerrow suddenly turned to face her, his green eyes focusing on Piper immediately.

"Oh, sorry Piper, I was lost in thought." Aerrow said in a remorseful tone as he got up and cleared a path for the navigator. "I think I found something…"

"Really?" Piper asked, glad for anything that would help Aerrow reach his decision. "I was kind of hoping to talk about a trip to Tropica."

"Oh… Oh!" Aerrow said as realization dawned on him. "Okay, so Tropica…"

"Don't worry Aerrow, although you do have to admit we need a break if even I think we need a vacation. First off though, what did you find out?" Piper asked, willing to hold off on discussing Tropica until Aerrow got this off his mind.

"Are you sure, I mean…"

"I'll put it on your tab." Piper said as she took a seat. "So, let's hear it."

"Right… Well, I was reading through the later editions of the Archoni'ent oath and it looks like what I was reading earlier was a rather idyllic version of the Oath written thousands of years ago during the founding days of the Order. At that time apparently the only enemies there were disrupted the Balance and so there was no need to place emphasis on the other points of the oath, no need to write down what was understood. The crystalmancer orders were clearly defined as the enemy, they had been corrupted by some kind of chaotic crystal that drove them to destroy the world and everyone else was simply trying to get along."

"What happened?"

"Evidently one of the orders, known as the Stormweaver Order went underground and began to recruit many of the normal civilians for a major attack on the Ancients. How long they waited is not known exactly, but the last crystalmancer order fell over three hundred years before they began their assault so we can guess their plan began sometime before that. Anyways, the Stormweaver Order attacked at long last eventually, but that is not where I'm going with this really… Long story short, the corruption the Stormweavers spread had a side effect of creating social havoc and eventually led to a coalition of Terras known as the Cytolian Alliance. This alliance sought to dominate all the terras of Atmos and launched massive military strikes on the neighboring landmasses, setting off a regional war and putting thousands of innocent civilians in harm's way. The beleaguered terras appealed to the Ancients for aid, but they had no written precedent to fall back on, they had never had to defend against a civil uprising before. In order to justify their involvement to the civilian governments of the other terras, the Ancients developed a more complete Code, a code very similar to our own Sky Knight Oath." Aerrow explained as he handed a scroll to Piper so she could follow along with his narration. From what she could read on the scroll, it looked like Aerrow was correct; the later code the Ancients published bore many similarities to the modern Sky Knight oath. There were differences such as the promise to maintain the balance of the world was still the highest priority and there was no oath to protect Atmosia, but there were portions dealing with coming to the aid of any who needed it and protecting the innocent. Overall this version of the oath would probably allay many of Aerrow's concerns about the order itself. Piper figured there was probably only one thing left for Aerrow to do, visit Terra Anki itself and find out exactly what the training would entail.

"Are you going to train with the Ancients then?" Piper asked out of curiosity.

"I think so, I'll need to find out what that training involves, but I'm sure it is nothing I will not be able to handle with enough effort." Aerrow said confidently, "I'll have Stork lay in a course to the Rift after we pay Terra Tropica a visit."

"Thank goodness for that." Piper said with a smile as the two walked out of his room, heading for the hanger to catch a ride to Tropica.

* * *

Marrshal looked up as Master Cyclonis walked into his lair beneath Cyclonia then went back to working on a large mechanical spider that occupied most of his desk's workspace. He was relatively unconcerned about the repercussions that might normally result from such a show of disrespect; after all, this was a very special project that he was working on, given to him by Master Cyclonis herself. Dark Piper might be more skilled in vessel design than he was, but he was still the best mechanical genius in Cyclonia, far better at designing devices than anyone else on Atmos could be. All thanks to his innate talents combined with his Illuminati training, which had amplified his skills. Such was why Master Cyclonis had come to him to design a means of projecting her presence remotely so that she could physically be in two places at once. Several such devices would be necessary if the latest scheme Master Cyclonis had were to work.

"So, how goes it Marrshal?" Master Cyclonis asked as she leaned across the desk to examine his workmanship. Over the past two months, the Specterization that had consumed her had receded; the only evidence of it that remained was in her irises, which still blazed a fiery red. Marrshal imagined she would like to keep that feature if possible; it was most effective in striking fear into the Talons with a simple glance.

"Construction progresses ahead of the anticipated schedule my lady." Marrshal answered in a somewhat distracted tone. He had just reached a very delicate part of the assembly, designing the crystal control surfaces that would allow the Master Cyclonis projected by the device to move in a semi-realistic manner as directed by the Master herself.

"So all seven of these projectors will be completed within the next two months then?" Cyclonis asked as she stood up fully, clearly satisfied with the quality of Marrshal's work.

"I cannot guarantee that my lady, I still have no way of communicating sound and visual stimuli between the projections and their controllers. Well, actually transmitting the sound is easy enough; radios should do the job nicely… The main issue at hand is the visual stimuli." Marrshal said, making sure to keep the scoffing tone out of his voice. If he were to use his full range of knowledge he could easily build in the technology to do everything that Master Cyclonis wanted, but that would be revealing far too much.

"I suppose I could create some kind of crystal that would do that, badness knows I've already been developing the crystals that will transfer motions between the projectors and controller… You know Marrshal; I'm amazed at how complex these schemes of yours are, to say nothing of the new crystals I have had to develop to make your plans possible." Master Cyclonis commented as she held up one of the clear flat crystals that would interlock to make up the top surface of the projector walker.

"All for the glory of Cyclonia my lady." Marrshal stated calmly as he linked one of the top plates to a light grey crystal prong inside the core of the walker. The prong was one of thirty nine identical crystal prongs held in a sphere around a central sphere of crystal by a framework of silver filigree. Each of the crystal prongs was linked to a joint in the upper body minus those of the spine and would allow the projections to move their upper bodies in a realistic manner, minus facial expressions and any moves that would require the spine to curve. Still, they could bend at the waist, collarbone and top of the neck; which would be sufficient for most rudimentary movements.

"Indeed… and I must confess these devices would have several applications, in addition to aiding in my own plan, congratulations Marrshal."

"Well, radio communication does lack a certain presence and this will certainly eliminate that issue." Marrshal commented smugly as he finished hooking up a second crystal to the corresponding top plate, making sure that he was hooking them up correctly. It would not do for the controller to bend their elbow and have them bow instead, and with forty connections per projector… well, it would be inconvenient to have to redo his work. Still, it was better than the responsive illusion crystal idea he had originally had, these walking projectors were much more versatile, and the projections would even be able to fight to a limited degree, although they were too limited to do so for long.

"Certainly true, I look forward to seeing the finished products. Speaking of which, how close are the others to completion?" Master Cyclonis asked as she set the crystal she had been examining down on the desk.

"As with this one, they still need radios implanted, some method of transmitting visual information installed and the motion mechanisms connected. Two of those tasks will be easy the last will take time to make sure it is done properly." Marrshal answered patiently as he continued his work.

"Provided I develop a crystal to send visual data…"

"Provided you generously craft a crystal such as that." Marrshal corrected her in a subservient tone.

"Oh I probably will; it would give me a good excuse to kick Ravess and Snipe out of my throne room, not that I need an excuse." Master Cyclonis mused to herself, taking Marrshal's comment in stride. "Make sure you have those projectors ready in time for the unveiling of our grand project."

"I will have them ready in time." Marrshal replied as Master Cyclonis vanished in a flash. As he resumed his work, Marrshal contemplated how different the Cyclonian leader was, the biting edge of her personality had been somewhat softened except when dealing with Ravess or Snipe. It was a result of the emotional roller coaster she had been riding he was sure. Thankfully though, her desire to dominate the Atmos had survived intact, this plan was proof of that: elegant in its design yet lethal in its implications. Marrshal had to admit that he looked forward to seeing the end results of this plot.

* * *

After leaving the spymaster to his work, Master Cyclonis teleported to a massive dry-dock hidden in the Wastelands contained within the outer defensive wall of Cyclonia where none of the creatures that made the desolate landscape their home could reach it. The Talons and newly minted Claw Squadrons had seen to that, particularly after she had ordered them to clear out the offending monsters. Here they were building the future of Cyclonia, a future she would not have imagined a year ago. Now however, thousands of Talons worked under the supervision of Dark Piper's crystal engineers to complete the largest vessel ever built in Cyclonia, a vessel so massive it had been built in twelve sections and only recently had been united to form a complete vessel. Dubbed 'the carrier' by those working on it, the massive vessel was larger than a small terra and could only fly thanks to massive batteries of downward pointing engines, artificial floater crystals and windstone crystals that created the additional lift necessary for the vessel to fly as well as helped provide the thrust to drive the craft forward. It was necessary that the vessel be so massive, it was intended to house fifty Talon Squadrons in addition to a normal crew, a small Switchblade factory and enough supplies to feed the crew for at least a year. Under normal circumstances, such a vessel would be impractical since at least a dozen destroyers could be made using the materials that went into constructing this behemoth; materials that had to be mined from the Wastelands rather than deplete the more visible mines that the Sky Knights could be watching. However, its size was needed for the mission it was to be sent on, a mission which hopefully would not involve combat with Sky Knights and was only possible due to discoveries Marrshal had made approximately five months ago. Chief among those breakthroughs was a means to navigate through the Great Expanse as well as a way to safeguard against the Sky Sirens that roamed those foreboding skies. With those hindrances out of the way, a whole world of untapped potential awaited, it would only be a matter of time before Cyclonia claimed it.

"Hi Master Cyclonis!" Dark Piper yelled suddenly as she spotted her friend.

"Hello Piper," Cyclonis responded as she glided over to where Piper stood, examining her blueprints to ensure everything had been built correctly. "How soon until the carrier is completed?"

"Oh, another few months at least, the Talons are very motivated to finish this project, probably tired of working in this place for nearly five months now." Piper said cheerfully, apparently unaffected by the sweltering heat that was a trademark of the Wastelands. "Then again, with over twelve thousand Talons working on this project you would think that we would be able to finish fairly quickly."

"True enough, at least construction is proceeding ahead of schedule thanks to your other methods of motivating the Talons; just make sure they don't slack off, I would hate to have this project be unfinished when the Duplication Crystal finally runs out of power. It's just pure luck that fragments of it survived and I was able to reforge them into another Duplication Crystal, although its power is greatly reduced, this small work crew is taxing the limits of its power, even given that I recharge it with my power every hour or two."

"Agreed, my recent scans of the crystal show that it is beginning to lose its energy at an exponentially increasing rate; were it not for the infusions of power you give it the crystal would have disintegrated into dust a few months ago." Piper said as she checked her notes. "But yes, I am confident that the carrier will be done by then."

"Excellent…"


	3. Chapter 3

**Destiny of Honor: Heir to the Legacy**

The Storm Hawks world concept is copyright to Nerd Corps and Asaph Fipke.

Aerrow, Stork, Piper, Starling, Junko, Finn, Radarr and other Sky Knights are the intellectual property of Asaph Fipke and copyright to Nerd Corps.

Master Cyclonis, Dark Ace, Ravess, Snipe and the Talons are the intellectual property of Asaph Fipke and copyright to Nerd Corps.

Repton and the Raptors are the intellectual property of Asaph Fipke and copyright to Nerd Corps.

Ageless Specter, Lord Xivor and The Ancients are the intellectual property of AgelessSpecter and used with permission.

Genisis/ Light Oracle, Marrshal, Psychos and Lord Astrel are my intellectual property; please credit them as such if for some reason you use them.

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Please check my profile for the latest news and information on my stories.

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Chapter 2

After three days of travel the Storm Hawks finally arrived at the borders of the massive storm system known as the Rift, only to find several Ancients waiting for them as they arrived. Piper figured that they probably had some form of radar deployed out here to spot anyone who might intrude on their realm, it only made sense really considering their history. Especially when one considered that the Sky Knight Assembly that had replaced the now defunct Sky Knight Council had required the Ancients to construct a communications hub on Terra Anki, meaning that Cyclonian interceptors could figure out where the hidden terra was by tracing back the strength of their radio signals. Truthfully, the reasoning had been that a communications hub would help relations between the Ancients and the other Sky Knights by promoting good communications; not some plot by Cyclonia to find Anki. Well, probably… Stork was certain that Marrshal had a hand in the so called "Connecting with the Past' project, which was the name the Assembly had given to the process of reintegrating the Ancients back into common society. Piper got the feeling that such a project would likely never reach its final conclusion as the Ancients would steadfastly maintain some of their isolation. Their legacy required them to remain secrecy, she understood that much.

Since the Ancients had spotted them, Stork brought the Condor to a halt, not wanting to take it any closer to the Rift than was absolutely necessary. None of them expected the Ancients to mind, besides, the Rift was far too dangerous to approach under normal circumstances. Even more so recently as the storms had begun to intensify, a result of the energies of the Crystal of Infinite Skies according to the Ancients. Piper would love to test that hypothesis, but no one had been allowed on the Ancients' terra since the resistance left it behind when they no longer needed to hide from the might of Cyclonia. Perhaps she would have a chance to study the crystal now that Aerrow was returning to train as an Ancient.

"Greetings Storm Hawks," One of the Ancients said as she strode onto the bridge of the Condor, "Vespos sends his apologies that he could not be here to greet you, but he has pressing business to attend to in preparation for Aerrow's arrival. We are to escort Aerrow to Terra Anki to meet with Vespos and discuss your possible training as a Sky Knight."

"What about the rest of us?" Piper asked in a neutral flat tone.

"This journey is for Aerrow alone, an Ancient must be self-sufficient, the rest of you would only serve as a hindrance." The female Ancient said in a dreary tone, obviously not caring about how the other Storm Hawks might react.

"No." Aerrow said with finality immediately after the Ancient had finished speaking, "I'm not going anywhere without my team and if you think an individual is stronger than a united team then I don't want to be an Ancient."

"Very well then… Congratulations Aerrow, you pass and may train as an Ancient if that is your wish." The Ancient said in a melodic voice as she removed her helmet and shook out her long silver hair, smiling at the redhead as she did so. "My name is Sonata; I will serve as your guide while you remain on Terra Anki. Fear not, all of you are welcome to join Aerrow during his training although you cannot join him personally as the training he will undergo requires the utmost focus and concentration. When he is not training though you are welcome to talk with him. Also, we bear a message for you Starling that may be of great interest to you, we asked that it be routed here after our radar detected the Timepulse signal of the Condor."

"You guys can do that?" Piper blurted out suddenly, surprised that the Ancients could do such a thing. "Oh, sorry Starling, go ahead."

"No problem Piper." Starling said in a genial tone. She would have been surprised if Piper had not said anything, and so had expected a response like this. "What is the message?"

"Evidently a new squadron is forming that has requested you to join them. I am not exactly certain why, but the message originally came from Terra Mesa, from a squadron calling themselves…"

"The Interceptors," Starling finished for the Ancient, "My original squadron… Well, these Interceptors are not really my original squadron, but they are carrying on their legacy."

"And here we thought that you had always been a Storm Hawk." Sonata said as she handed Starling the message, which the Ancient radio operators had written out for convenience.

"No, I was originally the Sky Knight of the Interceptors, but after they were destroyed I eventually joined up with the Storm Hawks. Now that they are reforming however…" Starling said, her voice growing distant as she considered what she should do.

"Don't worry Starling, we understand if you want to help reform the Interceptors," Aerrow said as he put a hand on Starling's shoulder.

"I am sorry to interrupt, but we must go now to Terra Anki. We are too exposed out here, too easy to spot should one of Marrshal's agents be nearby." Sonata broke in quietly, reminding them all that they were not entirely safe out here.

"I like her, she's paranoid." Stork whispered quietly to Piper as the Ancients who had remained outside flew into the Rift, prompting Stork to follow them. As they entered the whirling storm front, the Timepulse immediately died and Starling began to wonder why they simply did not use the Obelisk Gate as they had before. Her question was answered twenty minutes later however as a floating platform containing the Obelisk Gate appeared before them, drifting serenely in spite of the vicious winds that howled through the storm clouds of the Rift. Evidently the Ancients had moved the gate to a safer location, since most craft that entered the Rift were destroyed, without the Timepulse there was simply no way to get one's bearings long enough to find a way out should you venture beyond the first wall cloud that marked your entry into the Rift proper. After that, it was simply a matter of time until the icy rain and lightning tore your vessel apart. Somehow though, the Ancients had circumvented that as they had seemed to know exactly where they were going, even without the gate as a visual landmark. She would have to ask the Ancients how they did it, provided they were willing to share that information with her.

While Starling was considering all this, the Condor cruised through the Obelisk Gate, instantly appearing in the stormy skies above Terra Anki. A powerful energy shield now shimmered over the crater that contained the buildings of the terra, probably to protect those inside from the renewed power of the tempest outside. Based on the number of lightning strikes per minute, it was a wise precaution.

"Hold position here for a moment while we prepare the shield system to allow you entry." Sonata said as Stork slowly brought the Condor to a halt, his eye twitching involuntarily as he did so. A second later however, a shield coalesced behind the Condor, protecting them from the storm outside. After a couple more seconds a portal opened in the interior shield, allowing the Condor entry to the terra below and Stork wasted no time in taking advantage of the opening. As soon as the Condor was through, the door through the shield closed and, a few seconds later, the outer shield dropped and allowed the inner barrier to absorb the brunt of the storm outside. If she had to venture a guess, Piper would hypothesize that the reason for so much overlap time was to ensure that the shields were fully concentrated and able to fend off the lightning strikes.

"Welcome back to Terra Anki, Storm Hawks. After you land I will need to escort Aerrow to meet with Vespos, if you need anything simply radio our communications hub and we will assist you as soon as possible." Sonata sang in a quiet voice. "As before, feel free to explore the terra, just remember we cannot guarantee your safety should you venture into the catacombs, although we will not stop you."

"Of course." The other Storm Hawks responded by way of rote, knowing the restrictions on travel that existed here. For once though, Piper was determined to do some additional exploration of the terra while she was here. The catacombs might be dangerous, but surely it was nothing that she could not handle, after all, the Ancients lived here without fear of injury. Besides, she would be careful, there was nothing to be concerned about.

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After the Condor had landed, Sonata had led Aerrow into the heart of the main tower on Terra Anki. This journey did not lead to the sleeping chambers as his previous visit had though, instead Sonata took another route by opening a hidden wall panel and revealing a winding ramp that led down into the depths of the terra. After a couple minutes of walking, they cleared the foundation of the main tower and entered into a large domed cavern where the ramp descended along the outer wall of the grotto. The slope of ramp here was not constant, but instead wove its way around massive spines of crystal that extruded into the cavern from veins that extended deep into the bedrock of the terra. Unlike many other crystals, these crystals did not seem bound by gravity, pieces of the crystal mass that had broken off continued to float close to their original locations on the main crystal. As he examined the cavern around him to look at the other crystal structures Aerrow began to grasp just how much empty space was spread out before him and could understand why the central tower was surrounded by such a large patio and connected to so many flying buttresses. A cavern like this would make it impossible for the buildings normal foundation to support its weight.

As they neared the bottom of the cave, Aerrow noticed a structure of some kind in the center of the grotto, a circle of eighteen blue-green crystal obelisks stood like silent guardians around a small dais with four curved tines reaching up to meet at a small ring of golden crystal. From his vantage point, it looked as if that small ring held a miniature star inside it and Aerrow concluded that it must be the Crystal of Infinite Skies. The space within the circle of obelisks was filled with a faint grey-blue fog that was densely concentrated at the edges but rapidly thinned to wisps of vapor that swirled around several dozen small spines of rock that pierced the fog. An odd pale greenish light pervaded the entire zone contained within the obelisks except the area around the Crystal of Infinite Skies, where the light of the crystal overwhelmed the other light source. As he gazed at the odd edifice, an odd feeling of déjà vu came over Aerrow, as though he had been to a place like this before. No answers presented themselves however, and Aerrow pondered the peculiar feeling for several more seconds before he resolved to ask Sonata about the structure.

"Excuse me Sonata," Aerrow said as the pair walked across the floor of the cavern, "What is this?"

"That is the Great Expanse." Sonata said in a bland voice, the first time Aerrow had heard her speak in a normal manner rather than intone her words. "This is what causes it, the main seal that powers and protects the crystal towers that create the Expanse and permeate it with the strange energies so often reported."

"That is what the Crystal of Infinite Skies is used for? To create that blight on the face of the Atmos?" Aerrow asked, astonished that the Ancients would do something like that.

"Only to link the seal… In any case, it was necessary, the Great Expanse is simply a side effect of the dimensional rift we used to eliminate the Stormweaver Order, the rift continuously bleeds other-dimensional energies into the Great Expanse. That is why the sky looks so different there and why the weather there is so peculiar." The Ancient said in a solemn tone.

"I suppose that also explains why you can travel in a straight line and end up right back where you started?" Aerrow asked, curious as to where the influence of the Sky Sirens left off and the energies of the rift took over.

"Yes, although many of the other effects you observe are created by the Sky Sirens, beings who were created to serve the Stormweavers and were able to claw their way back into this dimension when the seal weakened. Thankfully they were still bound to remain within the Expanse otherwise they long ago would have exterminated everyone on Atmos."

"Nice…"

"I doubt you truly think that Aerrow." A voice said from off to his left and Aerrow turned to see Vespos striding toward them from a dark archway that stood near the end of the ramp. "Then again, I know what you really meant by that statement and I think you will find that most people would agree with you on that point."

"Vespos, good to see you again." Aerrow said as he walked over to greet the Ancient leader. "You can probably already guess why I'm here, but I'd like to ask some questions first, questions that aren't readily answered in your histories."

"Of course, come right this way, we can talk in the Chamber of Paths."

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While Aerrow was off talking to the Ancients, Piper quickly gathered together her caving gear and left the Condor, heading for one of the secondary buildings that surrounded the main complex of towers. From past explorations, she knew that this building had an access way to the tunnels beneath the surface of the terra. Thankfully her destination was near the skyport the Condor was landed at and she did not run into any Ancients during her journey. While they would not have stopped her from entering the tunnels, the Ancients would definitely warn her about going down there and Piper already had a pretty good idea that it was dangerous; she really did not need anymore warnings. Besides, if she was not about to go running blindly through the caverns as others might, she would be carefully taking her time, assessing each section of tunnel before she entered it. Curiosity would not kill this cat, she would make certain of it.

Once inside the building, it only took a few minutes for Piper to open the door leading into the tunnels and climb inside. Although the entry was only large enough to crawl through, it expanded out to the size of a standard hallway after a few feet and Piper found it oddly reminiscent of the tunnels she and the other Storm Hawks had explored in the Forbidden City. It was an uncomfortable comparison considering what traps had laid in wait for them there. Surely though there would not be traps like that here on a still inhabited terra, where an Ancient might wander into them if they needed to enter the tunnel system. Then again, it would be unwise to let down her guard lest these tunnels actually have traps in them. Cautiously, Piper made her way down the passageway, ready to react at a moments notice should she trigger a trap. After about ten minutes of walking, a quiet humming sound began to fill the hall, instantly putting her on alert as she ducked behind one of the rings lining the tube- like passage. For several minutes she listened intently, trying to determine where the sound was coming from as well as how close the source was. After nearly four minutes though, the sound did not seem to be drawing any closer and, although it sounded like it was coming from further down the tunnel, Piper decided that it was safe enough to move forward without worrying about an immediate ambush. It did not take long for her to find the ultimate source of the humming sound: a peculiar violet energy barrier that blocked off one of the routes leading out of a nearby intersection. Unafraid, Piper approached the barrier and gently touched the shield with an extra staff she had brought along. When the pole touched the field, it began to disappear and Piper immediately pulled the rod back and examined the missing end of the staff. A quick inspection revealed no scorch marks on the clean cut end of the pole; it was as if the missing section had been sent to oblivion.

"That's one way to secure an area…" Piper said as she checked the other two routes, finding that there were no similar protective barriers. Still, given that she was clearly entering a trapped area, it would probably be a good idea to check where she was going… or she could turn back and ask the Ancients if it was alright to explore further. At that thought Piper shook her head in frustration, the Ancients had said they were free to explore the terra and given the longevity of their civilization there had to be all kinds of information stored down here. Maybe this was what she was meant to do with her life, uncover the mysteries of the past hidden here on Terra Anki. It was an exciting proposition she had to admit.

With her mind made up, Piper slowly made her way down the right-most hallway, carefully sweeping the passage in front of her with the extra staff she had brought to detect any of those oblivion fields. To her surprise, the hall seemed to be clear without any traps or methods of preventing entry. Then again, there could be other kinds of traps here, goodness knew the Forbidden City had contained all kinds of mechanisms designed to prevent entry… for all she knew this hallway led into some labyrinth of death. It was a sobering thought, but also unlikely given the size of Terra Anki, which was only large enough to house a small town. Why a terra with such limited potential for farmland had been colonized was a mystery to Piper, even Terra Polis had once been self sufficient before trade routes had shifted and prompted a developmental boom. Terra Anki, on the other hand, was about a kilometer across (about two if one included the protective rim around the inhabitable crater), which left little more than room for a town, not the city that had grown upon it. Perhaps she would find out more though, after all, these tunnels seemed to be far older than the buildings on the surface and probably had a wealth of information hidden in them. Provided she could find it…

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Author Note: Please check my profile for the latest news on story progress, I have now updated it to include a news section.


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